Let's be honest, this was a project I did not want to do! We are long time DIY kids out of both necessity and love. But that's the problem; we knew just about how hard this would be.
So, we called a contractor of trusted reputation....and he came to our house....and he took measurements and he looked at the mess.... obviously he, too, knew what kind of trouble he was getting in for. Though we had some money set aside, we were not prepared for his estimate. Eek!
What we were looking at was not a simple cosmetic fix. One push on the tile and the entire wall wiggled. The floor was constantly wet from a leak that could not be reached. How long before it would come through the kitchen ceiling we wondered? This was a problem we could not ignore. As we weren't willing to go into debt, there was only one solution. Do It Ourselves.
So Hero took vacation days (yup, vacation--crazy, huh?) and we plunged in. While he was still at work, Blaze and I ripped out the tile and crumbling dry wall--no turning back now! I cut my knee on a broken tile and squirted blood most impressively--a delightful distraction to my future EMT.
When Hero came home from work, he manned the sawsaw and we
hauled away the rotten boards. gnarly.
The next day involved picking up the previously ordered surround and replacing boards, hanging dry wall, priming. Hundreds of trips up and down the stairs to the garage for tools and strait cuts. And that infuriating measuring tape!
We were surprised to find that the little narrow room had been there long before the bathroom.
Saturday was a long, challenging day. My dad came over to look at what we were doing which was bittersweet because this is the stuff he used to help us with. And, as life goes on, there was yard to mow and string beans to freeze, lack of sleep from a midnight firecall. And it was hot. Perhaps the hottest week of the summer and we don't have AC upstairs. Sweaty. Besides that, why is it remodeling projects always take longer then planned? Grumpy.
But at last we were ready--at 10 pm, that is--to install the 5 piece surround.
AND WE DID IT! We really did it!
Wait--it says in the instructions that we have to brace the entire thing with 2x4s. Insane! Every time one cross brace was in place, the next one over fell out! I was close to losing more then my temper. But at last--2 hours later--we got the whole thing snug. Nobody bump it!
The next morning, we headed to the bathroom right away and there it was, our amazing handy-work. Tub surround and 2x4s. Oh, and how we laughed! I guess we were just too tired, hot and miserable to notice how crocked every piece was--it's a wonder anything stayed at all.
It has to sit like that for 24 hours--perfectly timed by Hero to land on the day of rest. Much needed.
But if the bracing drove me crazy, nothing prepared me for the plumbing. Can we just skip Monday? It was so strait forward and it should have been so easy but it did. not. work. out. AAAGGGhhhh. Finally, painfully, the job was conquered.
But at the end of that day the agony of it was that the vacation was over and it project wasn't finished; walls needed patched and the floor repaired. We took a big breath; those tasks will get done later. The worst is over.
Two weeks have passed. The tub is a pleasure, the agony of the job is being replaced by laughter--aren't we the crazy ones? Such a lovely clean shower. "Can you believe it?" We repeat, "We did it ourselves!"
Thankful for my parent's generosity with their shower
and Jesus' kindess to all my begging for help,
Zinnia Girl!
P.S. There should be tears in the title like the traditional phrase 'cause I hid in the steps and bawled at least once. "Is it really so noble to remain debt free?" And when we used the wrong caulk and the new tub leaked--and worse yet, when I nearly ruined the project with my attempt at the correct silicone caulking--I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard me bawling and muttering. Hero got some advice and by working together, the final caulking was nearly perfect and is leak free!
